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Finally, MLPD Watson gets what he wants

Police Chief Dan Watson didn’t get exactly what he wanted from the Town Council Wednesday evening, but at least he got something.

That’s more than he got in his first two tries before the council, on Dec. 15 and Jan. 19, when the chief tried to figure out a way to add some muscle to his force.

On both those occasions, the council turned him down flat.

But on Wednesday, after yet another proposal from Watson, the council approved filling the MLPD’s open lieutenant position from within and adding a sergeant.

That new sergeant position could be former Sgt. Eric Hugelman, who was dismissed from the force in the “Rusty’s Bar” incident but won his job back on appeal.

The Hugelman case is still very much behind the curtain. The council addressed the matter in closed session Wednesday night, saying that it was both a personnel issue and involved litigation.

In any event, it will cost some money for the new sergeant and for the increased pay for lieutenant. The council said it would approve the arrangement as long as it can prioritize the positions it feels are the most critical to include in the 2011 budget.

The town will use surplus TOT revenue and council discretionary funds for now, but they’ll run out at the end of the fiscal year on June 30.